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China raises additional duties on U.S. goods to 84% amid

trade

war

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Beijing imposes restrictions on 18 U.S. companies

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China's trade surplus with U.S. widened to $295.4 billion

last

year

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China releases white paper on U.S.-China commercial ties

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Beijing accuses U.S. of reneging on its side of 2020 trade

deal

By Joe Cash, Yukun Zhang and Ethan Wang

BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) - China hit back at U.S.

President Donald Trump singling out the world's second-largest

economy for tariffs of more than 100% by raising additional

duties on American products to 84% on Wednesday, deepening the

trade war between the two superpowers.

Beijing also imposed restrictions on 18 U.S. companies,

mostly in defence-related industries, adding to the 60 or so

American firms punished over Trump's tariffs.

The move comes after Trump made good on his threat to impose

an additional 50% tariff on China unless it withdrew its

retaliatory levies on the United States, taking total new U.S.

duties on Chinese goods this year to 104%.

Beijing announced in response it would also raise its levies

on U.S. goods by 50%, adding to the 34% increase previously

announced and due to be implemented on Thursday.

"The U.S. escalation of tariffs on China is a mistake on top

of a mistake, which seriously infringes of China's legitimate

rights and interests and seriously undermines the rules-based

multilateral trading system," China's finance ministry said in a

statement.

Trump has imposed "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of

economies he accuses of "ripping off" the U.S. by selling goods

into the world's largest consumer economy while maintaining

trade barriers that inhibit U.S. firms' market access.

But he has singled out China for the most punishing taxes,

setting the stage for a standoff between the world's top two

economies.

In signs that bilateral ties could deteriorate further,

China's culture and tourism ministry late on Wednesday issued a

travel advisory for citizens visiting the U.S., citing recent

"deterioration" of economic and trade relations.

Shortly after, the Ministry of Education followed with an

alert for students considering studying in the U.S. state of

Ohio, saying that a recent state education bill contained

"negative" China-related provisions.

Travel and education are among the top U.S. services exports

to China.

TRADE SURPLUS 'INEVITABLE'

Earlier on Wednesday, China released a white paper on

U.S.-China commercial ties in which it said Beijing did not

deliberately pursue a trade surplus.

"The trade imbalance in goods between China and the U.S. is

both an inevitable result of structural issues in the U.S.

economy and a consequence of the comparative advantages and

international division of labour between the two countries," the

report said.

China's trade surplus with the U.S. widened to $295.4

billion last year from $279.1 billion in 2023, according to U.S.

Census data. The goods trade gap peaked in 2018 at $418 billion,

the same year Trump, in his first term as president, imposed

tariffs on Chinese outbound shipments.

The first U.S.-China trade war concluded with Beijing

agreeing to a "Phase 1" trade deal with Washington in 2020 in

which it agreed to increase purchases of U.S. exports by $200

billion over a two-year period.

Beijing failed to meet its targets when the COVID-19

pandemic struck, but said in its white paper that it had

"scrupulously fulfilled its obligations" by taking steps to

boost its purchases of U.S. goods and accused Washington of

having reneged on the deal.

"The U.S. has systematically escalated economic and other

forms of pressure against China, the report said. "Concurrently,

the U.S. has promoted false narratives related to human rights,

Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang and the pandemic."

China also talked up its efforts to boost its trade in

services with the U.S., economic activity that the Trump

administration has not factored into its "reciprocal" duties.

WAR OF ATTRITION

China is bracing for an economic war of attrition as it

tries to court other markets in Asia, Europe and the world. But

other countries have much smaller markets than America and are

also taking a hit from the tariffs.

During Trump's first term, China frustrated U.S. financial

and professional services firms by holding up licence

applications and carrying out office raids.

But Beijing cannot dip into the same playbook this time as

it is trying to attract fresh foreign investment to bolster its

economic recovery.

Still, Chinese policymakers are backing themselves to go

toe-to-toe with the Trump administration a second time.

"If the U.S. insists on escalating trade restrictions, China

has both the determination and the means to respond forcefully -

and will do so," a commerce ministry spokesperson said in a

statement accompanying the white paper's launch.

"There are no winners in a trade war. China does not want

one, but the government will never allow the legitimate rights

and interests of the Chinese people to be harmed or taken away."

Ordinary Chinese people have started to voice their concern.

"The situation has already reached a blatant financial and

trade war on the global stage," said Ling Wanhua, a 20-year-old

Shanghai resident. "It's already hard for college graduates to

find jobs. If the overall environment gets worse, the employment

situation for graduates will be even worse."

As worries mount, China began censoring some tariff-related

content online, with hashtags and searches for "tariff" or "104"

mostly blocked on social media platform Weibo.

Reuters reported China's top leaders planned to convene a

meeting as early as Wednesday to discuss measures to boost the

economy and stabilise the capital markets.

"I think the 104% tariffs are kind of exaggerated," said Wu

Lina, a 68-year-old tourist holidaying in Shanghai. "This

president, the way this country treats China, oh my God, it will

definitely cause some harm."